Micah Roberts

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The Indianapolis Colts made major strides last season in their second year under quarterback Andrew Luck and are favored to win the AFC South again this year. But by looks of Super Bowl futures betting patterns, the public is expecting much bigger things than just winning the division or hitting the road for a divisional playoff game. They're thinking Super Bowl.

"Right now, the Colts would be our third worst decision among the 32 teams," said MGM sports book hub manager Jeff Stoneback. "They're right behind the Raiders and Chargers as our biggest risk. We opened them at 22-to-1 -- have been as low as 15-to-1 -- and currently have them at 20-to-1. Overall, we've written the sixth most tickets on them to win it all."

With 10 properties located along the Las Vegas strip, the MGM books have more rooms for visiting guests to lodge than any other and their future write for all sports is larger than any other chain because of all those rooms constantly saying hello to new visitors. Getting a peak at their future action is very indicative of what bettors from all across the country are thinking. While they love Luck and the Colts, they're not too excited about the rest of the AFC South.

"We opened the Texans at 45-to-1 and got some early action on them, dropping them to 30-to-1, but no one has touched them since and because of risk on other teams and lowering numbers, we've been raising their odds quite often," said Stoneback. "They're all the way up to 75-to-1 now and would be our fourth best scenario to win the Super Bowl."

Meanwhile, the Titans have been treated like the plague with bettors.

"We see this every year with the Titans where they are totally ignored, kind of like BYU in football and basketball," said Stoneback, a Seattle native and skeptic of former Washington QB Jake Locker. "Our movement has been almost identical to what we saw last year: we opened at 50-to-1 and have pushed them up to 125-to-1, and still no serious takers. We have the lowest amount of tickets written on them. In fact, the team that is No. 31 on the least amount of tickets written -- the Bills -- have twice as many tickets on them as the Titans."

As for Locker, who has shown signs of being a good field general -- kind of like a Jake Plummer, Stoneback isn't sure he has what it takes to be a consistent QB in the NFL.

"I don't think he has the arm it takes to win in the NFL. I'm rooting for him, but I don't think he's the answer to taking Tennessee to the next level."

The Jaguars have the least amount of expectations among all the AFC South teams, but at such high opening odds, it doesn't take a lot of cash wagered to accumulate risk.

"We opened them at 200-to-1 and have had to drop them down to 125-to-1," said Stoneback. "There's a lot of positives with this team, not so much as to win the Super Bowl, but to be more competitive than what we saw at the beginning of last season."

ODDS TO WIN AFC SOUTH DIVISION

Indianapolis Colts 4-7

Houston Texans 5-2

Tennessee Titans 9-2

Jacksonville Jaguars 25-1

Houston Texans

Season wins: Open 7.5 OV -145, currently 7.5 OV -150 after some shuffling both ways.

LM Quick Take: Wow, who saw 2013 coming. They went from being Super Bowl contenders to earning the right to the top draft pick. The good news is the talent is still in place defensively to be very good. The bad news is the quarterback question still hasn't been addressed. Are they in a stronger position by grooming QB Case Keenum with the future in mind, or going with the veteran in Ryan Fitzpatrick where they know exactly what they're getting? Kenny White isn't the biggest fan of Fitzpatrick, calling him a below-average quarterback, but does offer that he can provide accuracy in the short passing game if given enough time to throw. Tough call, but either way, eight wins seems like a tall task even though the defense will be very strong and the division is weak.

Texans quote: Second-year safety D.J. Swearinger on the Texans defense and how his former South Carolina teammate, first overall draft pick Jadeveon Clowney will fit in: “We had some bumps and bruises last year but we've been working hard this offseason and this defense will be a stingy defense,” Swearinger said before training camp began. “I don't predict numbers but I know he's (Clowney) going to wreak havoc for a lot quarterbacks because it's going to be hard to block him and J.J. (Watt) at the same time."

Indianapolis Colts

Season wins: Open 9.5 UN -150, currently 9.5-flat

Super Bowl odds: 18-1

2013 record: 11-5 (10-6 ATS), lost at New England in divisional playoffs

LM Quick Take: Look for them to take the next step forward in 2014. Last year, they were the only team to beat the 49ers, Seahawks and Broncos. Andrew Luck is destined to be crowned champion one day, and while it may not be this season, they're sure to get at least 10 wins and make the playoffs. White expects the third-year quarterback to jump leaps and bounds this season. "The running game will ease things up for Luck, and I think you'll see fewer sacks, fewer interceptions, a higher completion percentage, and more yards per attempt which will lead to more touchdowns."

Colts quote: Second-year offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton talks about the tough task opposing defenses will have of defending all of Andrew Luck's weapons: “There's no way you can scheme up ways to take away Reggie and not account for T.Y. and the tight ends, as well as Hakeem Nicks and Donte Moncrief,” Hamilton said. “We have some guys that can make plays for us on offense. I'm really excited at the end of the day to know that any given play we feel we have a potential matchup in our favor.”

LM Quick Take: They didn't do anything well in 2013, but they may at least come in with a better chance at winning games with Chad Henne entrenched as the No. 1 QB giving them some semblance of stability through training camp heading into the regular season. Even though they had the worst rating ever last season, they still won four games. Six to seven wins wouldn't be impossible. Despite a below-average quarterback, White is reluctant to bet the UNDER because it's such a low number.

Jaguars quote: Coach Gus Bradley on Chad Henne coming into camp as the starter and how it relates to first-round draft choice Blake Bortles: "I think it's been out there that our beliefs and our feelings is that we feel so strongly about Chad and he's going in, I think the team has really rallied around that," Bradley told NFL Total Access at the NFL Rookie Symposium. "Now, it has provided an atmosphere for Blake to really go out there and ask a lot of questions and gain a lot of information from all the quarterbacks that are in. He's doing a really good job, he's having more good days than days that maybe he's struggling, like all rookies have. We're very excited about his development."

LM Quick Take: Once again, the entire season rests with Jake Locker being healthy and that appears to be a lot to ask for because his style of play puts him at continual risk. If healthy, they could go to that next level of competing for a playoff spot. If Locker does get hurt, backup Charlie Whitehurst won't inspire confidence for anyone that wagered OVER 7 wins. The big upside with a healthy Locker is getting a chance to see him utilize explosive playmakers Dexter McCluster and rookie RB Bishop Sankey.

Titans quote: The resume of new coach Ken Whisenhunt has his team excited and Whisenhunt himself is pumped about what he's seen out of QB Jake Locker who comes into the season healthy: “Jake works hard,” Whisenhunt said of Locker who didn't miss a session on the field during the offseason. “He's doing a great job as far as studying the offense and understanding his reads, really done a good job with a lot of the little things. His footwork, his technique, we've seen improvement there, and that's really exciting to see.”

LVH 2014 NFL GAMES OF THE YEAR INVOLVING AFC SOUTH TEAMS

This division has the least amount of games posted on the LVH's 'Games of the Year' offerings, and it's quite understandable. The thing to look at here is the high or low points for each team. In the case of the Colts, the big favorite to win the division, they're not given much respect in their rating. If Andrew Luck's progression continues as we think it should, it appears that there's a lot more room for their number to rise. If they struggle more, then their number is already closer to that scenario. They're not even a 3-point home favorite to the Eagles on Sept. 15, a sign that the LVH has Philly rated slightly higher on a neutral field. If the Colts win that game, they'll get a slight rating boost which makes getting +3 (-120) at Pittsburgh on Oct. 20 appear to have some value.

On the bottom end, the LVH has the Jaguars getting +3 at home to the Titans on Dec. 18, a Thursday night game. The Jacksonville home crowd has traditionally been one of the least advantageous in the league (only +1.5 to the number in 2013). The Jags start at the bottom of the barrel. They can't get any worse, but could show drastic improvements which should make any early number involving them have some value. This is the only 'GOY' offered by the LVH involving Jacksonville and by the time this game kicks off, we'll know a lot more about each team. If Jacksonville doesn't improve as we think they will, the Titans kick off as maybe a 3.5-point favorite. But if they do show improvements due to more stable personnel, then the Titans will go off as a slight favorite below -3, which is the magic number. The number '3' is the most key number in the NFL just because more games land on it than any other, so being able to get a home team taking +3, on a Thursday night, is kind of a big deal when expectations by most on Jacksonville are about as low as it gets.